The Jewelry Box

This is, behind my wedding ring, my most prized possession. This is my jewelry box from my mother. It used to sit on her large dresser, the kind with a mirror on it that I could reach.

My dad was in the Navy from '61-'65 and he bought this in a market in Japan. He brought it back for his his sister Mary Alice who thought it was hideous. My mother ended up taking it.

I was obsessed with it when I was little. I would just sit and listen to the ting ting of the music box and watch the elegant lady on the rickshaw go up and down. My mother got a beautiful jewelry box not long before she passed away that was to be mine, but I let my sister have it if I could have this one. She had noooo problem with that.

For a long time, this was put away while I was in high school etc, and the music box had stop working. My dad took it, put a drop of oil in the wind and it immediately worked. I lost it, I couldn't believe he had fixed it. My dad, the hero. I cried when I heard that ting-a-ling song, it had been so long since I had heard it, and the lights even still worked. Speaking of the lights, I have no idea what I'm going to do when they burn out- they are light bulbs from Vietnam 50 some odd years ago. I will be sad if I can't replace them.

Charlie has already gotten the spark. I open the box for him and he just sits there mesmerized, just like I was when I was little. It is chipping horribly, the veneer on the little feet are completely gone. I have to handle it very gingerly. Any time it is moved, it is moved in my lap. So, for when it does finally stop working, I've documented the ting tong little song for all time here for my enjoyment. I'm sure no one else cares to watch a music box. But for when Charlie is older and looks back at that jewelry box, he'll know what it used to sound like and what the lights looked like and how much it meant to me. (And even if I'm dead, he'll know he better not toss it!)

I'm going to give this to my future daughter-in-law some day and she's going be like, 'greeeeat...thanks. Where can I hide this ugly thing?'





You can see where it's chiping on the top and the bare feet

I love the pink fabric inside and the little tassle pulls on the middle box

The back is mirrors, hence you can see the camera. You can see the yellowy pink silk flowers and the lady with her umbrella. It's so kitschy it's fabulous

Note to Self - Vintage Satin Tiffany Blue Holiday Frost

Source

This is for my personal records- sorry to bore